As many know, ESPNA is working on a lighting project which will:

• Improve current street lighting – assuring repairs of cobra/overhead lights, trim trees that obscure lighting, and encourage the use of porch lights on overly darkened streets
• Replace some of the street cobra lighting with acorn lights

Repair of street and alley lighting

Our trusty section reps conducted walking and drive through surveys of our neighborhood in April to identify need for lighting repair and need for new lighting. Thank you to everyone. We are working with the city this summer to repair the broken lights and to trim trees that are obscuring others. We will post a map of lighting repair requests on our website this summer: www.espna.org.

Acorn Lighting

ESPNA will submit a grant to the City of St. Petersburg at the end of June to help raise funding to add decorative (and functional) acorn lighting in our neighborhood. Several ESPN folks have served on our lighting committee, many gave terrific feedback to help shape the plan at the April neighborhood meeting, and we will discuss the final plan at our June meeting.

Why are we doing this Acorn light thing?

• The ESPNA neighborhood plan called for decorative lighting to preserve and enhance the character and safety, history, ‘sense of space’, demarcation, and identify of the ESPNA neighborhood.
• Past and current needs assessments: Street surveys in 2001 and April 2005, and neighborhood discussions April 2005 identified areas for pedestrian lighting and improved street lighting

What kind of acorn lights? Nice looking, environmentally friendly, sufficient lighting

• Dark-sky compliant: with Lunar optics, glass shades (this will reduce upward glare toward the sky)
• House-side shields if/as needed: 90, 120, or 180 degree shades (this will prevent glare on houses)
• 13’ pole with holophane Granville fixture (type and height)
• 50 watt high pressure sodium (HPS) –the mellow yellow light (bright enough, but not too bright)
• Asymmetrical glass, type VII, IESNA Cutoff

Where are we putting these things anyway?

The current plan improves upon the previously approved plan:

Our first approach to placement (which was initially approved in April before the survey) placed lights primarily at the main entry ways and in one or two additional spots (e.g. the NE section). After conducting the survey, we proposed the following 14 placements (for vote in June). The placement:

• Allows for efficient expansion of lighting throughout ESPNA given that each “point of service” has 600’ of expansion for other lighting.
• Allows for 2006 lighting or expansion (future years) to areas that were identified as needing lighting from the April lighting survey
• This placement allows some entryways to be marked by acorn lights and a more equitable placement of lights in the internal areas of ESPNA
• Allows for efficient expansion in future years, so that we do not ‘waste’ any points of service that will be installed (more expensive) with this first grant plus fundraising.

The cost for this plan is about $50,000 [yowza!]. We will raise funding to underwrite the lights by:

• Grants (we will submit a grant to the city for $25,000)
• ESPNA contributions (the board approved a $1,000 cash contribution and will donate a portion of proceeds from the Haunted Hike and merchandise)
• Fundraising projects like the Pizza Cards – we all like pizza and this will really help!
• Encouraging business sponsorship of lighting

Below is the placement that we will discuss at the June meeting:

22nd Ave/12th St SW corner
15th Ave between 10/11th St (in front of 1060)
20th Ave/14th St SW corner
13th Ave/16th St SE corner
19th Ave/Jackson St on west property line of 104
14th Ave/12th St NW corner
17th Terr/16th St SE corner
14th Ave/MLK St SW corner
17th Ave/12th St SW corner
11th Ave/14th St NE corner
17th Ave/MLK St NW corner
11th Ave/Jackson St E or SE corner
15th Ave/14th St SW corner
9th Ave/12th St NW corner

We will talk about the plan for placement at the June neighborhood meeting. Please send any thoughts to me at revbem8@earthlink.net if you cannot attend the meeting.

Beth Meyerson
Lighting Grant Coordinator

5/2005

NEIGHBORHOOD SUPPORTS THE LIGHTING PROJECT
AND GRANT APPLICATION

Street and pedestrian lighting can make two types of contributions to a neighborhood: crime reduction and enhancement of neighborhood character. As a next step in our Neighborhood Plan implementation, ESPNA will develop ways to improve our current lighting through the addition of pedestrian or ‘acorn’ style lighting. (“Acorn Lighting” refers to a style of pedestrian lighting. There are several examples throughout the City, one close by at 9th Avenue and MLK Blvd. N.)

At the April ESPNA meeting, neighbors had the opportunity to talk about neighborhood lighting generally and to discuss our application to the City for a grant to underwrite the purchase and installation of acorn lighting. We approved a plan to price pedestrian or ‘acorn’ style lighting for initial locations (see below) and to prepare a grant application to the City for lights (maximum possible $25,000). [The vote was ratified at the April Board meeting.]

The map at right is from the last ESP lighting survey in 2002. The proposed locations for the initial phase of this lighting project have been added and are numbered 1-13. These 13 initial locations will establish ‘points of service’ or infrastructure, to set initial points of service for future lighting expansion.

We are pricing these locations with the City, and will underwrite as many as possible through fundraising (grant and donations) in 2006. We will submit our grant application to the City at the end of June.

ESPNA’s lighting committee (come join!) also proposed to raise an additional $5,000 to extend any grant funding (the maximum $25,000 referenced previously). The grant process is competitive, and we are not assured funding, but it can’t hurt to show the City we plan to raise additional funds ourselves. With a plan for lighting, we may be successful in getting business and neighborhood partners to add to the kitty with light sponsorship. At the April Board meeting, it was proposed and approved to pledge $1,000 from our general funds toward this $5,000 goal, and to earmark 50% of the profits from ESPNA merchandise and 100% of any other fundraising efforts that we specifically designate, toward the purchase of neighborhood lighting. So, your purchase of ESPNA ‘stuff’ will really help!

This month, ESPNA section reps are updating our lighting survey from 2002. They will be looking for street lighting that needs repair or replacement, and for places where new lighting is needed (either the overhead ‘cobra’ style or pedestrian ‘acorn’ lighting). We will share the survey findings, recommendations, and plans in upcoming newsletters.

Please join in! A group of neighbors are working as a lighting committee. We welcome your involvement. If you have thoughts about neighborhood lighting, the initial acorn lighting plan, or if you want to lend a hand to the effort, please contact Beth Meyerson by email: revbem8@earthlink.net or phone: 825-0818.

Additional Lighting Fixtures Recommended Trim Ground Cover or Raise-Up Tree Canopy at Existing Fixture To view this map in color and at a larger size, visit www.espna.org.

Proposed Lights for Phase One